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Day in Pop Report for 05/18/2015


Britney Spears And Iggy Azalea Perform 'Pretty Girls' At Billboard Awards
(Radio.com) Britney Spears gave fans at home a taste of what her Las Vegas residency is like with the live debut of "Pretty Girls." Spears, joined as she is on the recorded version by Iggy Azalea, came to the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night (May 17) to perform the brand new single from the AXIS Theatre at Planet Hollywood, down the strip from the MGM Grand, where the awards were held.

Flanked by a smattering of backup dancers (including one who very much looked like Redfoo from LMFAO?), Azalea and Spears performed the half-rapped, half-sung tune surrounded in neon colors galore, from the dress to a giant boombox above them.

There was even the slightest nod to the song's aliens-themed music video at the beginning, as Spears and Azalea entered the stage "zapped" there as though some sort of interstellar teleportation technology. Watch it here.

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Taylor Swift Premieres 'Bad Blood' Video
(Radio.com) After days and days of buildup, of teasers and posters and seemingly neverending additions to a star-studded cast, "Bad Blood," Taylor Swift's newest music video, premiered to open the 2015 Billboard Music Awards Sunday night, May 17.

And in the end, it wasn't Swift who stole the show. Instead, try the rapper who, as rumored, popped up on the remix. Yes, Kendrick Lamar indeed appears on the song and not just in the video, but it's not your typical bridge appearance following the verse-chorus, verse-chorus setup.

Instead, Lamar's there from the start, adding a quick rhyme at the start, a second one after the first verse, and then more appearances intermittently throughout as Swift's Catastrophe character trains to become the assassin that will defeat that dastardly Selena Gomez.

Sure, there are explosions (is "Bad Blood" the equivalent of a Michael Bay film? Ehhhhh?). A who's who of Swift's besties. Tons of rad females kicking major tail. There will be GIFs. There might even be fanfic. There should probably be a TV series. Read more here.

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One Direction Make First TV Appearance Without Zayn Malik
(Radio.com) One Direction made their debuted on the talk show circuit last Thursday night (May 14) as a four-piece and didn't disappoint. On the Late Late Show with James Corden, the guys sat down for a little chat that definitely focused on their lives without their recently departed member Zayn Malik.

Liam Payne even admitted that he and his bandmates felt angry and disappointed when Zayn told them he was leaving. 'It's like anything, at first we were a little bit angry. Obviously we were surprised, but I think we all knew the general vibe Zayn was feeling," Payne said, explaining, "There's certain parts of this job that Zayn loved, and certain parts he didn't. And if you don't like your job, you've got to follow your heart sometimes and go where you need to go."

No hard feelings though, and as Payne explained, the band would 'carry on as usual." Louis Tomlinson did reference his recent Twitter spat with his former bandmate, telling the crowd,'There's been a bit of back and forth. We're on good terms with him." Later saying, their differences have been "resolved," but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen again.

"I've never been very good at biting me tongue, maybe I get it from my mum," he said. "But�it's just one of those things. Twitter is good for connecting with fans and good for saying things you shouldn't. Or bad in this case."

But again, Tomlinson said, it's "all good in the hood" when it comes to him and Zayn. Niall Horan also put all fears of a breakup to rest saying, 'The four of us love every part of it. The shows have been great on the tour and the fans deserve it. They've been absolutely fantastic to us. We enjoy every aspect of it."

And no, according to Harry Styles, they never, ever thought of replacing Zayn. The guys didn't give too much away about the follow-up to 2014's Four, only Horan said, 'We're looking forward to bringing out a new record and going on more tours and stuff. We're really enjoying it."

Of course, the guys didn't manage to have a little fun with their British host, playing a very serious game of dodgeball as Corden's Angels that included a whole training montage. According to Harry Styles, this is what all the singing was for. And even more importantly, Corden swears this is how the Beatles and the Rolling Stones became who they are, winning dodgeball.

Perhaps Corden could fill in for Zayn, at least for one night. Watch the clip, which features a lot of references to balls, here.

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U2's The Edge Falls Off The Edge Of The Stage At Tour Kick Off
(Radio.com) This is definitely one way to kick off a tour. Last Thursday night (May 14) at U2′s first show on their current tour at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, The Edge couldn't seem to find the edge of the stage and took a tumble right off of it.

The fall, which you can watch above in a video shot by a fan,happened while he was performing an encore of "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," which is kind of ironic, don't you think?

The guitarist is seen stepping right off the edge of the stage, which in his defense, is oddly shaped and hard to see where exactly it ends. All you can hear is the guitar banging the side of the stage before The Edge disappears out of view.

Don't worry though, The Edge is doing OK. He even posted a photo of his injured arm, which he scraped on the way down. In the photo's caption, which also shows him holding a glass of wine, he jokes, "Didn't see the edge, I'm ok!!" Luckily, his sense of humor was left fully intact. Read more and watch the video here.

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Carrie Underwood Unplugs For Candlelit Performance of 'Little Toy Guns'
(Radio.com) Just days after being announced as the leader in nominations for this year's CMT Awards, which take place June 10 in Nashville, country star Carrie Underwood has proved her talent once again--this time with a special performance of single "Little Toy Guns," from her retrospective album, Greatest Hits: Decade #1.

Amid a candlelit set and backed by acoustic guitar players, Underwood flexed her wide-ranging vocals for Yahoo's Ram Country website. "Little Toy Guns" is up for female video of the year at the CMT Awards, a category that Underwood also received a nomination in for "Something in the Water," the first crossover single from her Greatest Hits: Decade #1.

The song has been rising up the country charts, currently peaking at No. 11 on the U.S. Country Songs chart and at No. 9 on Country Airplay. Watch the performance here.

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Joy Division To Reissue Classic Albums And Compilations
(Radio.com) In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the release of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" on June 27, there will be a reissue of the four classic Joy Division releases on 180-gram vinyl.

Unknown Pleasures and Closer, Joy Division's two proper albums, will see their reissue on June 29 on Rhino, while Still and Substance, both post-humous compilation albums released after the death of frontman Ian Curtis, will both be in double-LP format and be released on July 24.

All will be recreations of their original releases, right down to the packaging details, except for Substance, which is using 2010 remasters and will feature two new songs added on, "As You Said" and the Pennine version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart." Check out the track details here.

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Selena Gomez Almost Done With New Album
(Radio.com) July will mark two years since Selena Gomez released her debut album as a solo artist, Stars Dance, and while we know that she has been working on the followup, a new Q&A with Billboard reveals that it might be coming out sooner rather than later.

'I've done four movies this year and I've been endlessly working on my album that's almost kind of close to being done," Gomez said. "Just know that it's the best I've ever done and you guys won't be disappointed."

The best album she's ever done? Almost done? Gomez fans have reason to be excited. She already had the single "The Heart Knows What It Wants"--perhaps more is to come very soon. Read more here.

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Owl City and Aloe Blacc Write a New Graduation Anthem with 'Verge'
(Radio.com) We're in the thick of college and high school graduation season and up until now there haven't been any frontrunners for new anthems -- but Owl City and Aloe Blacc are changing that with their new collaboration, "Verge."

The song, which comes from Owl City's upcoming album Mobile Orchestra, is a twang-dance ballad with a bluegrass bop and an EDM drop about living it up on a special night.

"I ain't too sure what I believe in / But I believe in what I see," sings Adam Young, aka Owl City. "And when I close my eyes / I see my whole life ahead of me / These are our hours / This is our time."

Obviously those aspirational lyrics are general enough to apply to any situation, but the animated lyric video for the track positions it as a graduation anthem with images of anonymous cap and gown-clad people. Listen to the track here.

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Wiz Khalifa Performs With Lindsey Stirling At Billboard Awards
(Radio.com) The star of any live performance of "See You Again" will always, ALWAYS be Wiz Khalifa, and not because of his vocals but due to his ability to pull off the goofiest dance moves, especially in the outro, that you'll see on screen this year.

But when the song, now a multi-week leader of the Hot 100, came to the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night (May 17), there was a special addition: violin, courtesy Lindsey Stirling.

Stirling's warm strings permeated Charlie Puth's falsetto and neverending staredown of whatever camera was in front of him, while Khalifa joyously bopped around the stage when he wasn't adding his verses. Check it out here.

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Ashley Monroe Cuts Live Recordings At Third Man Records
(Radio.com) A few days ago country star Ashley Monroe performed a very special show at Jack White's Third Man Records--the set was recorded live, and many of the songs will be on her forthcoming album, The Blade, due July 24.

"It's very crucial we get this right, obviously," Monroe said to the crowd, according to Rolling Stone. Once she rehearsed a song to get her levels right, Monroe launched into her set. It was recorded live, mixed in real-time and cut to acetate.

Once she'd played five songs Monroe took a break so that recording technicians could replace the acetate for the second side of the LP. Monroe took the opportunity to tell a joke: "What do you call a dead blonde in a closet? 1982 hide-and-seek champion." Then she dove into the next song, "On to Something Good." Read more here.

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Run the Jewels Release 'Early' Music Video
(Radio.com) The best things in life are unexpected: for example, this new video from Run the Jewels, for the song "Early" off their last album Run the Jewels 2. It came without warning or press release: a shot of lightning in the dark, to strike fear into the heart of the system.

The song is an unapologetically frank first-person depiction of police brutality from Killer Mike's perspective. The video artfully illustrates the frightening scenario--about being arrested in front of his wife and kids--in animation, limited to a striking palette black, white and red.

We see the arrest occur, the cop towering over Mike's wife and kids as he watches, helpless, from the back seat of a cop car. Then the scene shifts to a global demonstration, a clear homage to the demonstrations that have swept the country in the wake of police brutality in Ferguson and beyond.

Run the Jewels have been particularly on point with their music videos during the Run the Jewels 2 cycle. The video for "Early" only continues that trend. Watch it here.

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Robin Thicke Reacts To Father Having Sex To His Music
(Radio.com) If you had a famous offspring whose music was often renowned for being that sweet, sweet baby-making music, would you even consider tossing those tunes on while you were getting down and dirty in the bedroom?

Apparently, such a thing isn't off limits for Alan Thicke, who admitted last week to Us Weekly that he and wife Tanya Callau Thicke might occasionally get it on with son Robin Thicke's music blaring on repeat.

Robin tweeted "Dad, I heard what you said to @usweekly," Thicke wrote on Twitter. "I need you to give back all of my music. Immediately. @Alan_Thicke." Read his dad's response here.

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Rihanna Performs On Season Finale Of Saturday Night Live
(Radio.com) To send off Saturday Night Live's 40th season in style, the show brought out the big guns in Louis C.K. and Rihanna. The singer, prepping for the release of her new album sometime this year, hit the SNL stage-and though she didn't appear in any sketches, that didn't make her performances any less thematic.

She kicked off her set with current R&B radio single "B-- Better Have My Money," and it wasn't any sort of normal performance: Rihanna started in a mock car setup, one hand on the steering wheel and another on the microphone. As the camera panned outward, she's joined by an indisposed woman in the backseat, tied up and presumably owing Rihanna currency of some sort.

Soon enough, the set is stripped away piece by piece as Rihanna and a handful of backup dancers parade onstage while a screen behind them plays footage of police in the middle of a car chase. The movie set feel is capped off when, after a guitar solo outro, a crewman ending the take.

Then came her other current single, "American Oxygen." Think a bit less cinematic this time, but still with a stunning visual: this time due to video screens surrounding the singer that played footage of different moments in history, from Barack Obama's presidential inauguration to 9/11-much of it from the song's music video. Watch both performances here.

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Amy Schumer Looks Back At Viral Movement With Kanye West
(Radio.com) Last month at the Time 100 gala, comedian Amy Schumer created viral gold when she fell in front of Kanye and Kim Kardashian on the red carpet, getting classic Kanye shade in the process.

Instead of stop to help her up, the pair just walked by on the red carpet acting like they never saw Schumer at their feet. As it turns out, West's reaction to Schumer inside the gala wasn't much different. While on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Schumer opened up about the red carpet moment and the aftermath.

"It felt like there was an earthquake because they were on the carpet," she told Kimmel. "They just stood there like, 'You're welcome.' They're very short and important�. the camera adds three feet. So I just asked my publicist, 'Can I fall?' She was like, 'You're already going to do it.'"

After she dove in front of them, Kim apparently through her body language consulted Kanye to see his reaction and at that decided to walk on. "Kim kind of looked at me and then looked at Kanye to see like, 'What's our vibe?'" Schumer recalled. "You can see his vibe was like 'I hope you die.' His hand is getting ready to something. They left." Read more here.

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Derek Hough Takes On Sia's 'Chandelier' On 'Lip Sync Battle'
(Radio.com) While Julianne Hough went sexy for her Lip Sync Battle against her big brother Derek chose to go dancey. Yes, for his big finale on the show, he put on a platinum blonde wig for a well choreographed performance of Sia's "Chandelier."

Channeling Sia's favorite dancer Maddie Ziegler, the Dancing With the Stars star patted his tummy, did some amazing hand motions and some even more impressive jumps. He even got a lift from his female backup dancers. And let's not overlook his very emotional facial expressions. He clearly is feeling this. Julianne certainly loved it "Even if I don't win, he's never going to live this down," she said. "That was the greatest thing I've ever seen."

Unfortunately, Hough's dance could not overtake the fact that his little sis pulled out all the stops for her performance of Lonely Island "I Just Had Sex," not to mention that she brought out Meghan Trainor for her performance of "All About That Bass." Watch it here.

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Civil Wars' Joy Williams Debuts Solo Material at Intimate Concert
(Radio.com) Joy Williams' solo set last Thusday night (May 14) in New York was one part concert, and one part art exhibit. And it was all parts mesmerizing. Best known as one-half of four-time GRAMMY-winning country-folk duo the Civil Wars, Williams performed her second of three select tour dates at New York's Gramercy Theatre to a very attentive crowd.

The audience was hearing the majority of the new material from her forthcoming album Venus for the first time, and they gave the singer-songwriter their unyielding attention. Six songs in, Williams showed her appreciation when addressing the crowd for the first time. 'I should have worn waterproof mascara you guys," she said, getting emotional. 'It feels really good to be back here. I can't believe you all came."

Having spent the past week in New York, Williams said she loves the fact that she can walk one city block and smell 'Italian food and weed and subway scuzz and 12 different kinds of cologne and perfume," adding that she feels 'energized and exhausted and invigorated" all at the same time.

'The last couple years for me have been jam packed with life, too. You can feel more alive for being in that condensed place or you can shut down," she told the crowd. 'But I'm really glad to say that the waking up to all the things I've experienced in the last few years has helped bring me to this exact spot with each one of you tonight."

Williams had gone through several emotional hurdles and plenty of career and life changes over the past few years. These include the ending of the Civil Wars, the death of her father to cancer and the birth of her son.

Williams began her set with the emotional track "What a Good Woman Does," in which she sings about not having lost her voice despite all that's taken place. Accompanied only by piano, I was immediately captivated by her ethereal vocals. It was a powerful way to start the show and to reintroduce herself as a solo artist.

But it wasn't just her voice that was captivating. She put her full body into the performance, frequently waving her arms in the air and dancing along to the rhythms and beats of the mostly brand-new material. Read more here.

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